Bengaluru: The Government of Karnataka has shown the green signal to bring teaching and non-teaching staff who work in Department of Medical Education under the ambit of National Pension Scheme (NPS), said Medical Education Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar.

With this, the Government has fulfilled one of the long pending demands of teaching and non-teaching staff. NPS is applicable to those working on permanent basis in Government Medical, Dental Colleges and its attached teaching hospitals and super-speciality hospitals.

Talking to reporters here, he said a delegation of office-bearers of teaching and non-teaching staff had met him soon after assuming the office, and requested him to cover them under NPS. The matter was brought to the notice of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa who in turn had forwarded it to Finance Department to examine this proposal. Now, Finance Department had given its approval for the pension scheme. “Our Government took interest in this proposal despite current financial crisis due to Covid-19,” he said adding that  this would benefit as many as 5,949 teaching and non-teaching staff working in 27 institutes. Out of this, 2,061 were AICTE approved posts and 3,888 non-approved posts. The NPS would be an additional burden on the Government to the extent of Rs. 77.27 crore. Those whose services were regularised after April 1, 2006 would be benefited, Dr.  Sudhakar added.